Amarillo College

Introduction: Encephalitis, acute inflammation of the brain, correlates with systemic complications, prolonged ICU stays, and high mortality. Cerebrovascular disease (CVD) involves reduced blood flow to the brain. The impact of CVD on outcomes of critically-ill encephalitis patients has not been well characterized. We hypothesized that compromised cerebrovascular integrity in CVD exacerbates the impact of cerebral inflammation and critical illness. Methods: We used publicly available data to conduct a population-based cohort study of adults admitted to intensive care units of acute care hospitals in Texas from 2016 through 2022 with encephalitis. Transfers, elective admissions, and discharges against medical advice were excluded. The population was identified using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revisions, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) codes selected from Clinical Classification Software Refined Category NVS002: Encephalitis. CVD was identified using ICD-10-CM codes G45x, G46x, I60x-I69X, and H340x. The outcome was short-term mortality. Overlap propensity score weighting was applied with results expressed as adjusted risk ratio and 95% confidence interval (aRR [95% CI]). Results: Of 6,576 hospitalizations included in the study, 1,496 (23%) had CVD. Hospitalizations with CVD were older (48% vs 38% aged ≥ 65 years), had higher Deyo comorbidity index (mean[SD] 2.3 [2.2] vs 2.1 [2.4]), and more often required invasive mechanical ventilation (38% vs 28%). Patients with CVD had a higher rate of short-term mortality (28% vs 17%). Hospital length of stay was longer for CVD patients (mean[SD] 19[19] days vs 16[19] days). All covariates balanced exactly after overlap weighting. Within the overlap population, CVD remained associated with mortality (26% vs 22%) and (aRR 1.2 [95% CI 1.1 to 1.3]). Similar results were observed on sensitivity analyses for older patients, patients using invasive mechanical ventilation, and those more severely ill. Conclusions: Although CVD patients were older, had higher burden of comorbidities, and were at greater risk of death, after risk adjustment, preexisting CVD was still found to significantly and independently increase the risk of death in critically ill patients with encephalitis. These findings can help with early risk stratification.

Introduction: Mental disorders such as bipolar disorder (BD) are recognized as important in trauma outcomes. BD is linked to impulsivity and high-risk behaviors, increasing injury risk. Prior studies found BD associated with more trauma occurrences, but few have focused on ICU trauma surgery patients or directly compared BD to other mental disorders. We hypothesized that ICU trauma surgery patients with BD would present with lower injury severity scores but experience longer hospital stays due to altered pain perception and discharge barriers. Methods: We conducted a cohort study of ICU admissions for trauma in Texas (Q1 2016–Q2 2024), excluding elective admissions, transfers, and against medical advice discharges. Trauma surgery patients were identified using CCSR categories INJ004–006 and MST009–011, MST015. BD was identified with ICD-10-CM codes F31x. The exposure was a categorical variable with levels no mental disorders, BD, and other mental disorders. We applied overlap propensity score weighting and report adjusted risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals (aRR [95% CI]). AI assisted with grammar and structure. Results: Among 57,559 hospitalizations, 1,232 (2.1%) had BD and 11,688 (20.3%) had other mental disorders. BD patients were younger (32% aged ≥65 vs 61% (none), 66% (other)). Mean injury severity score was lowest in other mental disorders (8.5), vs 9.9 (BD) and 10.4 (none). Length of stay was longest in BD (8.8 days) vs 8.0 (other) and 8.0 (none). On adjusted analysis, BD patients had longer stay (aRR 1.07 [1.01–1.13]) compared to those without mental disorders and similar length of stay compared to those with other mental disorders (aRR 0.97 [0.92–1.04]). Conclusions: BD patients were younger and had lower injury severity scores, yet experienced longer lengths of stay, revealing a disconnect between the physical trauma sustained and the course of recovery. This pattern may stem from challenges in altered pain perception, symptom reporting, delayed discharge due to psychosocial barriers, or gaps in coordinating care. Our findings suggest that trauma recovery in this population may benefit from early psychiatric involvement. By addressing both the medical and mental health needs of these patients, trauma systems can reduce inefficiencies and better support recovery beyond the acute injury.

Melanoma-associated antigens (MAGEs) are cancer-testis antigens (CTAs) aberrantly expressed in multiple cancer types, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and associated with aggressive phenotypes. Although MAGE proteins are widely studied as cancer immunotherapy targets, their roles in HCC and the regulation of their expression during liver pathogenesis in mouse models, including dietary effects, remain poorly understood. We analyzed Mage gene expression in liver tissues from 78 C3H/HeJ mice with chronic diet-induced obesity. While type I MAGE genes are frequently expressed in human HCC, we found no evidence of their expression in mouse liver tumors, suggesting species-specific regulation. In contrast, type II Maged2, previously reported to be upregulated in human HCC, was significantly increased in mouse liver tumors. Analysis of human HCC samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database confirmed MAGED2 upregulation and its association with patient prognosis. Together, these findings identify MAGED2 as a conserved marker of liver cancer in both humans and mice and emphasize the importance of cross-species comparative approaches for selecting appropriate models and accurately interpreting results, particularly for CTAs, which often evolved recently and in a species-specific manner.

The European honey bee, Apis mellifera, is a vital pollinator of agricultural and horticultural crops. The midgut is the site of entry for honey bee pathogens and for bacterial pesticidal proteins (BPP) used for crop protection. We characterized the proteome of brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV), which are enriched in gut surface proteins, prepared from the midguts of honey bee adults and larvae. A total of 2064 and 2337 proteins were identified via timsTOF mass spectrometry in midgut BBMV from adults and larvae, respectively. These proteins included 71 midgut plasma membrane proteins in adult and 77 in larval samples identified by use of bioinformatic tools and manual curation. The most abundant proteins were identified using a new hybrid method that takes both protein length and sample complexity into account. The potential roles of plasma membrane proteins in interaction with and defense against pathogens were assessed by use of Gene Ontology terms. Seven proteins from three of the protein families (aminopeptidase, cadherin, ATP-binding cassette transporter subfamily C) known to include functional BPP receptors in other insects were identified. Information on the presence and relative abundance of these proteins could inform the risk of BPP toxicity to honey bees.

The objective was to evaluate the inclusion of three corn ethanol byproducts in finishing cattle diets: high protein distillers grain (HPDG) was used as a source of protein in the diet to entirely replace whole cottonseed and soybean meal, dry fiber plus solubles (DFS) and wet fiber plus solubles (WFS) were used as energy-protein sources in the diet to replace a portion of the corn and entirely replace whole cottonseed and soybean meal from the conventional diet. Diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous with all diets containing 15% corn silage, 12% soybean hulls, 0.55 to 0.85% urea, and 1.80% mineral and vitamin supplements on dry matter (DM) basis. The treatments were (% DM): 1) control (CON): 8% whole cottonseed, 5% soybean meal, and 57.6% ground corn; 2) HPDG: 10.3% HPDG and 60.35% ground corn; 3) DFS: 30% DFS and 40.35% ground corn; 4) WFS: 30% WFS and 40.35% ground corn. Pre-planned contrasts included CON diet vs. HPDG diet, CON diet vs. DFS diet, and CON diet vs. WFS diet. In Exp. 1, 258 Nellore bulls were blocked by initial shrunk body weight (BW; 423 kg ± 36.6 kg), allocated into 44 pens in a randomized complete block design, and fed for 102 d. The average daily gain was greater (P = 0.02) for DFS than CON. Final BW (P = 0.02), hot carcass weight (HCW; P < 0.01), and Longissimus muscle area (P = 0.03) were greater for DFS than CON. In Exp. 2, 4 ruminally cannulated Nellore steers (initial BW = 389 ± 37 kg) were used in a Latin square design. Steers fed the WFS diet had less (P = 0.01) DMI than CON steers. The ether extract intake was greater (P = 0.02) for DFS and tended (P = 0.09) to be greater for WFS than CON, but HPDG did not differ from CON (P = 0.22). Steers fed DFS diets had 39.9% greater neutral detergent fiber intake (P < 0.01) than CON. Digestibility of DM was less (P < 0.01) for DFS than CON. Feeding HPDG and DFS decreased (P < 0.01) the molar proportion of rumen acetate, increased (P < 0.01) rumen propionate, and decreased acetate:propionate ratio (P < 0.01) compared to CON. Ruminal pH was not affected (P ≥ 0.82) by treatments, while ruminal ammonia nitrogen was greater for CON (P ≤ 0.01) compared with HPDG, DFS, and WFS. Feeding HPDG was a viable protein supplement alternative to sources like whole cottonseed and soybean meal in finishing diets. Feeding WFS and DFS improved cattle performance by displacing a portion of the flint corn and entirely replacing whole cottonseed and soybean meal.